The dictionary says “charisma” is a Greek word meaning “a special magnetic charm or appeal.”

As for “Kyrillos,” I couldn’t find it in the dictionary. But I suspect it is derived from a Greek word meaning whatever the opposite of charisma is.

Let’s face it, the Republican state senator from Monmouth County is not the flashiest guy in Jersey politics. Granted , it would be tough for Joe Kyrillos to stand out in a state with a governor who’s a walking You-Tube clip. But you’d need a Chris Christie-like talent for attention-getting to make any headway in the U.S. Senate race in which the man from Middletown is competing.

Kyrillos doesn’t have it. In his debate Thursday night against incumbent Democrat Bob Menendez, Kyrillos gave the impression he was engaged in a filibuster rather than an argument.

He began by stating, “I love this country. I love America. All of us are blessed to call America home. I am a product of the American dream.”

He proceeded to produce platitude after platitude. When abortion came up, the doctor’s son pronounced it a “very, very serious subject.” After some ruminations, he went on to announce that “I have advocated some pro-life initiatives, but I believe at the end of the day people have to make up own mind.”

That prompted Menendez to quip that his opponent is “not pro-choice; he’s multiple choice.”

It was a funny line, but Menendez might as well have saved it for some future campaign. In this one he’s as much of a lock as it’s possible to be. That’s not his opponent’s fault. Blame coattails, not Kyrillos.

The most recent Monmouth University poll shows Menendez leading Kyrillos by a 15-point margin. Barack Obama is also leading Mitt Romney by 15 points in New Jersey, the poll shows.

That’s no coincidence, says poll director Pat Murray. In presidential years a big margin for the Democratic contender in the Garden State has become the default position. It’s reached the point where neither candidate even bothers to campaign.

“The national campaigns are not putting any effort into New Jersey at all,” said Murray. “Usually at least the southern third of the state sees a media campaign. But this year there hasn’t even been a spillover from the Philadelphia TV market.”

That’s because Romney has already conceded Pennsylvania to Obama. And that’s not all he’s conceding. Romney’s conceding the West Coast as well as the entire Northeast. Republican leaders seem willing to accept this alignment as traditional, but it’s really just a recent development.

As recently as 1996, GOP challenger Bob Dole campaigned vigorously in Jersey. He had good reason to think Jersey was winnable for him. In 1976 he’d been on the ticket with Gerald Ford that Jersey voters preferred over the winning Carter-Mondale ticket.

Jersey went Republican for the next three presidential elections as well. But we’ve now reached the point where Republicans write off the race for the White House in New Jersey before it begins.

At least the Senate races used to be contested. But this year we’ve got a month to go till Election Day and most voters still don’t even know the Republican’s name. Murray said Kyrillos’ name recognition is a mere 36 percent.

In other words, it’s all over but the shouting. And it’s time for the state’s Republicans to start shouting. The national GOP approach is not working for New Jersey.

“Their electoral college strategy is not a good one,” said Murray. When the national GOP writes off New Jersey, the results are felt all the way down the ballot. Bergen County used to be a GOP stronghold, for example, but the two freeholder seats up for grabs this year could go to the Democrats.

The Republican battle plan for the Garden State used to revolve around converting Democrats to Republicans as they moved out to suburban counties such as Bergen and Monmouth. But that mechanism doesn’t seem to be working these days.

Meanwhile the electorate, both locally and nationally, is becoming more heavily minority. And the under-30 vote goes more than 2-1 to the Democrats.

“We could get to the point the Republicans are writing off 40 percent of the electorate,” said Murray. So even if Romney somehow squeaks by this year, the demographics will be more heavily weighted against the Republicans next time around.